Baby boy born at Whole Foods in Rockville

A week early, the infant arrives in store’s bathroom

At Whole Foods Market in Rockville, they bake their own bread but it was a customer’s bun that came out of the oven early on Friday.

A pregnant woman described as a “regular, local customer” was shopping at the Whole Foods about 11 a.m. Friday when she felt her first contraction, Whole Foods spokeswoman Samantha Jimenez said. Not due for another week, the woman continued shopping until she felt more discomfort and headed to the store’s ladies’ bathroom.

That’s when the baby boy, 7 pounds, 15 ounces, made his entrance with the help of two Whole Foods employees, two Whole Foods customers and the baby’s father at about 11:45 a.m., Jimenez said. One of the employees was an assistant bakery team leader.

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service received a call sometime after 11 a.m. for a woman giving birth in the bathroom at Whole Foods.

“We were advised that she was having contractions. She had not delivered at that point, but it was happening very, very fast,” said Station 23 Firefighter III/Paramedic Erin Wirth, who arrived on scene just after the baby was born. “They were just finishing [the delivery] as we arrived so Dad made the delivery, and he did a great job. The baby looked perfectly healthy and happy. [The woman] and her husband did a great job, everybody was clapping and cheering when she left.”

Mother, who wants to remain anonymous, and baby are both healthy, Jimenez said. It is the mother’s second child, she said.

“She said it was a great experience, despite where it happened,” Jimenez said.

Whole Foods team members visited the new mom and baby at the hospital, bringing a gift basket full of baby products from the store, Jimenez said.